Borrowed Time

View across the Bay of Naples from Vico Equense, looking towards the distinctive silhouette of Mount Vesuvius.

Nearly 3 million people live in close proximity to Mount Vesuvius, which infamously erupted in A.D. 79, burying the prosperous towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum. This mountain has erupted more than 50 times since the eruption in 79 A.D. After Pompeii was buried and lost to history, the volcano continued to erupt every 100 years until about 1037 A.D., when it entered a 600-year period of quiescence. In 1631, the volcano killed an additional 4000 unsuspecting inhabitants. It was during the restoration after this eruption that workers discovered the ruins of Pompeii, buried and forgotten for nearly 1600 years.

Researchers agree that it is not a matter of if Vesuvius will erupt again, but when and how violently. The Italian government is even offering 30,000 Euros to anyone living in one of the 18 towns in the immediate area who is willing to move out of the area. Meanwhile, volcanologists are reconstructing the volcano’s past to better predict just what might happen when it blows its top again.